" Lords or Gentlemen which will follow this pastime " were 

 admonished to have halt a dozen mats upon which to lie as a 

 protection against the damp earth, and " some used to carrie a 

 windbed whiche is made ot leather strongly sowed on all the foure 

 sides, and having a Pype at one of the corners to blowe it as you 

 would blowe a Baggepvpe." 



It was probably somewhere about the beginning of the last 

 century that the fox terrier blossomed from the nondescript stage, 

 into dehnite shape. When Peter Beckford, cousin of the author of 

 '' Vathek," published his classic work on hunting a hundred and 

 thirty years ago, there were at least black, white, and red terriers, 

 and doubtless also variants on these colours, as little trouble seems 

 to have been taken over the breeding, so long as the dogs were 

 staunch, and capable of doing the work for which they were 

 required. The present day aristocrat of the show bench has in 

 him the blood of a long line of ancestors who have done yeoman 

 service in their time, and, though he may differ in details, the 

 general conformation remains much the same. Of course, he is 

 better looking, the signs of race being more apparent, but whether 

 or no he is any the worse adapted to fulhl his duties is a subject of 

 endless controversy into which I need not enter in this place. The 

 chief point to consider in this connection is the family rather than 

 the individual. The owner of a dog worth some ^^500 is not' 

 particularly keen about letting him run any risk of injury, but if 



